


An Uncle's Comfort

by JosieRuby1



Category: Skulduggery Pleasant - Derek Landy
Genre: Concern, Familial Relationship, Family, Family Relationship - Freeform, Hurt/Comfort, doubts, the faceless ones - Freeform, uncle/neice
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-01
Updated: 2018-10-01
Packaged: 2019-07-23 09:00:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,128
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16155860
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JosieRuby1/pseuds/JosieRuby1
Summary: Kenspeckle tells Valkyrie that Skulduggery shouldn't treat her like an adult and put her in so much danger and Valkyrie can't stop thinking about it. She calls on the Echo of her uncle to help her make sense of her thoughts regarding it all





	An Uncle's Comfort

**Author's Note:**

  * For [KiraKiralina](https://archiveofourown.org/users/KiraKiralina/gifts).



> Not only is this my first Skulduggery Pleasant fanfic, but it is also my first fic for the 'Fictober 2018' challenge on Tumblr.
> 
> Prompt: can you feel this?

Valkyrie had learnt that is there was any issue, Skulduggery probably already knew about it, likely before she had even processed it as being an issue in her own head. The problem was she couldn’t always _talk_ to the skeleton detective about things, when she had doubts or troubles and she needed her family, Skulduggery was not the right person. It was then when she went to Gordon. He insisted time and time again that he was not the real Gordon, but she didn’t care, he talked like Gordon, he looked like Gordon, he was close enough to Gordon for her.

The first time she went to Gordon for personal advice, rather than the usual world saving advice was after one of the many lecturers she had gotten from Kenspeckle. Kenspeckle had told her that at her age she shouldn’t be treated like an adult, amongst a load of talk about how she should be doing other things at her age. It had left her feeling lost, uncertain and she needed someone who would allow her to get these thoughts out of her head.

She opened the Echo Stone in Gordon’s study and watched as the echo of her uncle appeared in front of her. Gordon’s smile was friendly and felt like home, she relaxed just slightly. She waved a hand in front of his face and then poked his shoulder. Or rather poked at the place his shoulder was, and her hand went right through.

“Can you feel this?” She asked, trying to put off why she had opened him.

Gordon “You’re stressed,” He said, it wasn’t a question.

Valkyrie rolled her eyes, “I’m a teenage girl, who is constantly having to save the world. I live a stressful life.” She flopped onto one of the chairs.

Gordon stared at her for a moment, his expression telling her that he wasn’t stupid enough to believe that was what this was about. She let out a groan, playing with a strand of her hair.

“Kenspeckle got into my head,” Valkyrie complained.

“And what did the good doctor say to get into your head?” Gordon asked, taking a seat in one of the other chairs.

Valkyrie ran her hands over her face, not sure how to word this without sounding like a pathetic child. “He… You know he’s not really a fan of Skulduggery or rather of the fact that Skulduggery takes me out on his missions. He said that it’s wrong the way Skulduggery treats me like an adult. I don’t see the problem with it, if I’m acting like an adult and I’m able to keep up with the adult talk, what does it matter?” Valkyrie paused long enough for a breath, not for a reply. “I pointed out that he speaks to me like and adult and he seemed really offended. He said that he didn’t. He said that I think that being spoken to like a child means being less respected and he’s right, I do think that. He said it’s a ridiculous notion, but is it? Isn’t that the way people talk to children?

“I’m not an adult, I know that, I really do. But… I’m not a child either. I know I should be… I don’t know, kissing boys and studying, but it’s not like I’m missing out on that, not really. It’s still happening and yeah, it kinda sucked that I wasn’t really there for my first kiss. But I’m not missing out. I’m just getting to experience something even better than the boring mundanity of school and things.”

She sighed, “But… Maybe I am missing out sometimes. My reflection is living my life and that’s great in that I’ve not been to school in two years, but it’s also getting to see my parents all the time. It’s the one who’s seeing the silly mess Mum becomes when Dad starts, it’s the one who’s hearing Dad’s ridiculous puns. It has no connection and I get to see all the things it does, the way it interacts with my parents and there’s no feeling. My Mum and Dad think I’m getting distant and cold but I’m not, not really. I still love them, they still mean the world to me. They can’t know, and I don’t want to give this up. But I miss them, and they can’t understand because they think that thing is me.”

Valkyrie had worn herself out with her long speech and when she finally stopped she realised that Gordon was close to her, his arm was outstretched as though he was going to pat her shoulder or pull her up into a hug. Of course, he could do neither, words were the only way he could comfort her now. His hand withdrew back to his side and his bent down, so he was at her level in the chair.

“Stephanie,” he said, and she rolled the name around her head for a moment, wondering how long it had been since she had been called Stephanie directly and not just through her reflection. “It doesn’t matter how old you are, it doesn’t matter what you’re doing or where you end up doing it, you are always going to want to run away home sometimes. That doesn’t mean you’re weak, it just means you’re human. Everyone wants the home comforts every so often, to remind them that things are normal even when they really really aren’t.

“Your parents love you, they aren’t going to stop loving you matter what. But maybe you need to think about spending some time with them, as the real you. Let them know that their loving and affectionate and silly and hilarious daughter is still there. You’re a teenager, Steph, they’re going to expect the mood swings, but for your sake and theirs go home every so often, see them with your own eyes, hug them tight and watch those terrible movies your father swears by with them.”

Valkyrie chuckled at that. Her Dad really did have terrible taste in movies.

“Give yourself time to think, do you want to stop doing what you’re doing or are you just worrying about it because someone told you, you shouldn’t be?” Echo Gordon asked. He knew the answer and he knew she knew the answer. “The world of sorcerers is a dark and dangerous one, we both know that, but it’s also an exciting and fun one. Kenspeckle wants the best for you, he cares for you, but you are in this deep enough and you are mature enough to decide what is the best for you here. Can you walk away?”

Valkyrie shook her head quickly.

“That’s what I thought, so how about you put me away and get back to work.” Echo Gordon said.


End file.
